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Representing the 3rd District of KANSAS

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Representatives Yoder, Graves Introduce Email Privacy Act

May 8, 2013

Press Release

Representatives Yoder, Graves Introduce Email Privacy Act

Washington, DC – Congressman Kevin Yoder (KS-03) and Congressman Tom Graves (GA-14) today introduced H.R. 1852 – the Email Privacy Act, legislation that would update the privacy protections for electronic communication information third-party service providers store in order to protect consumer privacy interests. The legislation ensures the Fourth Amendment protections to privacy that Americans receive from hard mail and other paper documents are extended to electronic correspondence and other content stored in “the cloud.” Technology has changed dramatically since 1986, the last time Congress updated email privacy laws.The Email Privacy Act is the House companion to S. 607, a bill from Sens. Patrick Leahy and Mike Lee that cleared the Senate Judiciary Committee last month.

“Today, we affirm what most Americans already assume, that Americans’ privacy should be protected from government intrusion. Our bill has a simple aim – to make sure all private communications stored online have the same Fourth Amendment privacy protections under the Constitution as any other letters and documents Americans keep in their homes,” stated Congressman Kevin Yoder.

“Government agencies should never be able to read our private emails without a warrant,” said Congressman Graves. “It is ridiculous for the IRS or any other federal agency to believe it is above our fundamental right to privacy, but it’s important that we update the law to keep up with modern communication and protect against government intrusion.”